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Saturday, 24 May 2014

An Interview With Moloch

The word "filthy" is thrown around quite a lot these days, it's long been a term of endearment among fans of anything from hardcore to doom metal, even the baja hoodie college dubsteppers adopted and abused it like a cheeky orphan before hopping on the first train to "deep house", or wherever the ket dealers are hanging out now. For the sake of the article, lets concentrate on what "filthy" implies in the broad metal and punk circles. For something to be filthy, it should sound coarse, like dragging a fork across every inch of a chalkboard. Therefore, filthy should sound unpleasant, not the kind of music you'd spin during an anxiety attack or particularly grave hangover. Behind all those noxious vibrations you'll more than likely find a deeply-rooted malice, whether that malice is aimed directly at something in particular or attacks indiscriminately like a bus junkie at wits end doesn't really matter, there just has to be an element of balls out fury present. Coarse, unpleasant, seeping with pure fucking malice. Nottingham's Moloch punch all of those holes. Moloch are filthy.

I was new to Moloch's music when I first sent out an e-mail to guitarist, Steve, asking if I could have a few words with him, something in the form of an interview. I sent out that e-mail about a week or so after hearing their split with Rot In Hell on Bandcamp, the track "Sibillia" still ringing in my ears at the time. I'd finally rediscovered that filth that I'd been missing for a year or so, and I writhed around in it like a pig.

Not all too impressed with my tongue-in-cheek approach to dialogue, Steve wasn't going to play ball with me on this one. Not one bit. Nope.

I opened up by asking Scott Conner of Nocturnal Poisoning what he had for breakfast last time, so I'm gonna shake things up and ask your opinion on sellotape.

Nope.

How and when did Moloch get started? What kind of bands did you play in before?

Moloch started around 2006, (I think) with Chris and Rob who played in a hardcore band and wanted to do something heavier. Craig joined on bass and Rob’s brother started on drums. It didn’t work out with Rob’s brother, so Dan replaced him (having never played on drums before). After a couple of years there were some line-up changes with Steve, Henry and Harry now playing guitar, drums and bass respectively. We've all previously played in fast hardcore bands before Moloch and some of us still do.

Can you tell us a bit about the name Moloch and why you chose it? A lot of bands these days seem to be going for more blunt names like KnifeWomb or Scabs Everywhere, not that that's a bad thing.

It was named after a Man is The Bastard song of the same name. I had no part in selecting it, so I can only assume that it was chosen because it seemed appropriate for the musical direction.

Your music is stomach-churning filth, reminiscent of the early sludge bands with the punk rock ethic, there's no spacey synth movements or anything in the least bit Bowie there. Can you let us in on some of your major musical influences?

We're usually pretty focused on how songs should sound, and being rooted in the 'sludge' genre, it's probably obvious who our major influences are. Saying that, between us we all listen to a variety of music, so things occasionally filter in that way too.

What's the music scene like in Nottingham? Is it a decent enough landscape for the kind of music you play?

The Nottingham music scene is very healthy, lots of activity going on with some amazing local bands and venues. It's a great place to be right now. As far as the landscape goes, it's a city, so concrete and granite generally fill the landscape – you can make your own mind up whether we fit that criteria.

Do you feel as though the term "sludge" is being used too liberally these days? For the past five or six years it seems to have become a very hip label. Or do all those genres and tags really matter?

I have no idea whether it's being used too liberally, but I don't think it matters. You can certainly intend to pay homage to a particular style when playing music, but usually what genre you're assigned or tagged with is out of your control anyway.

One of my favourite tracks of your's is Sibillia from your split with Rot In Hell, are there any songs in particular that you're proud of or enjoy playing live?

I'm generally keen to play whatever new song we've been working on, I enjoy the process of gaining confidence each time we don't have to exchange looks on a part that we have to pay attention to.

You've released a lot of splits throughout your time as a band, what is it about that medium of release that you find most beneficial? It's definitely a great way to get heard and to support other bands.

Chris usually handles that area through his label/distro – 'Feast of Tentacles'. You hit the nail on the head really, but I'd also add that it's a little nicer on the expenses and is also handy to get distributed better. Personally, I enjoy how splits can be crafted to be a beyond just a couple of bands lobbing songs on a record, how songs can complement each other, stuff like that. For example, see the DS-13/Code-13 split 7", at the end of each side, both bands plays a riff which the other continues in a slightly different style when you play the other side. Attention to detail like that is great.

Is there anything currently in the works for Moloch, recording or gig wise?

At the time of writing we're finishing off a split 7" with the Canadian band, 'Haggatha' – released by Graanrepubliek, Dry Cough and Choking Hazard records. I think the next gig we're playing is Nottingham, at Stuckonaname studios with Primitive Man on June 27th.

Thanks for speaking with me man, anything you'd like to say to fans new and old? Tell them to eat shit, maybe?

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